Last year my toddler grandson, Jett, dressed up as a “Chick Magnet”; I made him a chick costume and his parents made him a “magnet” to carry around or wear around his waist. This costume earned him an honorable mention in their local costume contest.

This year in keeping with this play on words we decided to dress him up as “Eye Candy”. The eye part was easy, but it took us a while to decide what type of candy he should be and what it should be made of. In the end we thought candy corn was appropriate for a little boy and that a crocheted sweater will work instead of the sack dresses we saw online, those were just too girly.

So I crocheted him a hat, which he could actually wear any time with or without the “eye” and this sweater. I show the fringe on the hat both braided and unbraided, either way is cute. The sweater can be worn later by removing the “eyes” or even for Thanksgiving by replacing the “eyes” with a turkey applique.

Rds. 10- 19: Ch2, hdc in each st around (49) – Change to Yellow yarn at the end of Rd. 17, continue same for Rounds 18 & 19. Do not fasten off you will work first earflap – slst in next 6 stitches and continue as follows:

Count 12 stitches across front of hat, join yellow yarn to next st and repeat rows 1-9 above, but do not fasten off. Ch 1, sc around the hat, join to the first sc, fasten off.

Tassels: make 2

Cut (4) strands of orange, yellow, white 10″ long. Fold strands over to form a loop at the top. Take a small strand of orange yarn and slip it thru the loop and knot. You will use this to tie tassel to earflap. Take another strand of orange yarn and wind it to the top of the yarn strands about 1/2″ from the loop. You will now have a tassel. Repeat then tie tassels on to the middle of the earflap. Trim ends or braid then trim ends.

June is National Rose Month. Did you know that on November 20, 1986 then President Ronald Reagan signed a resolution making the rose the national floral emblem? And he signed it at a ceremony held where else but the White House Rose Garden!

Almost everyone loves roses, these beautiful blooms come in many sizes and colors, and have a wonderful scent. They are the symbol of love and romance, after all who can resist a gift of roses from their significant other?

Celebrate National Rose Month with a Vintage Rose Garden Tea Party! This theme can be used for anything from an intimate tea party for two, a bridal or baby shower, birthday party, and what ever occasion you like. Roses and tea parties are an awesome combination. Here are some ideas to inspire you!

Make your favorite deviled egg recipe into these pretty pastel eggs.
Here’s a photo tutorial on how to dye your hard boiled eggs from Donkey and Carrot. Just dye the whites and pipe in your favorite yolk mixture![spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

Or serve these deviled egg chicks from She Knows. [spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

Here’s another egg salad recipe from My Yummy Life using Greek Yogurt, this one adds a bit of dill for some extra yum![spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]Two Peas and Their Pod has a great recipe for Avocado Egg Salad.[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

Skip the Egg Salad and use those hard boiled eggs in this Egg Wrap with Avocado and Ham from the Cookin Canuck.[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

Try these Scotched Eggs, they’re a complete meal! Hard boiled eggs wrapped in sausage with a crispy shell. Here’s a recipe for Baked Scotched Eggs from Left Side of the Table. [spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

For something a bit with a bit more spice try these Egg Masala Curry In Spicy Tomato Gravy from Lisa’s Kitchen.
Served over rice this would make a filling meal. [spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]Here’s another Egg Curry, Indian Onion and Yogurt Egg Curry recipe from Girl Cooks World, this one uses Greek Yogurt.[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

If you’re looking for a holiday to throw a party in May how about a Cinco de Mayo celebration?

Cinco de Mayo, celebrated on May 5, is not the Mexican Independence Day, that’s on September 16. This holiday is celebrated both in Mexico and the US to commemorate the Mexican army’s victory over Napoleon III’s French forces on May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Puebla.

The holiday is celebrated in Mexico, specially in the state of Puebla, but in recent years it’s become more of an American holiday than a Mexican one. Many Americans don’t really know its significance but head out to their favorite Mexican restaurant for a nice plate of Mexican food and a few margaritas.

This year why not celebrate at home and throw your own “fiesta” for family and friends; at least you won’t have to worry about having too many margaritas.

Make it fun and interesting. Hold a salsa, chili, or guacamole contest; ask friends and relatives to make their favorite salsa, chili, or guacamole and bring it to the party. Everyone will have a blast sampling the entries and judging who has the best.

Put up a colorful backdrop and add some props, sombreros, maracas, serapes, etc. for a photo booth.

Here are a few budget ideas for your Cinco de Mayo Fiesta.

*Clicking on a product name will take you to an Amazon Affiliate link.

To say that Dubai has a ton of hotels would be an understatement. I believe there are almost 600 hotels in this city state that covers 1,588 square miles, that’s roughly the size of Rhode Island which covers an area of 1,544 square miles. And the hotel count is growing with 140 more set to open in 2016 and still more during the next 4 years to accommodate visitors expected to flock to Dubai during the World Expo in 2020.

So there definitely isn’t a shortage of hotel rooms! There are hotels to fit all types of travelers and budgets. From low end hotels in the old city to super luxury resorts on Palm Island Dubai has it all. We’ve stayed in several different hotels there, including the JW Marriot Hotel Dubai in Deira, the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Beach Hotel & Resort, and the Westin Mina Seyahi Resort & Marina.

All three are great hotels. They’re comfortable, luxurious, have awesome service, and great locations. But our all time favorite is the Westin Mina Seyahi Resort & Marina, specially when the kids and grandkids are with us, they love the Westin.

Most of the resorts in Dubai, special those located in Jumeirah or on Palm Island are very kid friendly, but from my experience the Westin is the least expensive for the this class of hotel, depending on the season rates start at about $250 – 350 per night for a standard room. Believe me other luxury hotels in the area charge more.

We usually book Executive Club Rooms that have sea views and come with perks like breakfast, afternoon tea, cocktail hour, and all day drinks at the Executive Lounge located on the 8th. floor.

An Executive Club room starts at about $350 a night. When you have kids it’s sometimes worth the extra dollars spent on the Executive room to have access to free drinks and snacks all day. [spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

Blue Orange Restaurant

We also try to book the room to include breakfast, yes the Executive Club rooms include breakfast at the Lounge, but we love the buffet breakfast at the Blue Orange Restaurant located on the ground floor.

Play area in the Blue Orange Restaurant

The space is much larger with a greater variety of food choices, and has a play area for the kids. I did say the hotel was very kid friendly![spacer height=”-20px”]

Fresh crepes at the Blue Orange Restaurant

Not to mention their crepes are amazing!

The buffet breakfast is pretty pricey if it’s not included in the room rate. It’s about $40 per person and children under 12 are half price.

If you can’t get the breakfast package when you make your reservation you can splurge on the breakfast buffet at least a couple of times during your stay. It’s so worth it![spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]

Ok other than the amazing breakfast buffet here are other reasons why we love this resort.

The rooms are spacious with ample storage, the beds very comfortable, and the bathroom luxurious with plush towels, robes, and slippers. Each room is equipped with a handy Nespresso coffee machine which housekeeping restocks at least once a day. Did I mention they clean the rooms twice daily and have turn down service? The kids love the little chocolates they leave on the pillows! So yes the resort is luxurious and has awesome service.

On a tangent the kids loved the welcome gifts they receive when we check -in. They each got a little backpack filled with vacation essentials; a disposable camera, water bottle, and beach toys. I think the concierge gave them the gifts while we were checking in. I can’t quite remember I was busy with the welcome drink and snack they let you munch on while checking in. The cold towels they offer at check in was much appreciated too. I told you they were awesome!

Oh and speaking of awesome the concierge will loan you a child’s car seat if you need one, free! They add a small deposit to your room charge until you return the seat, then they remove the charge. Fair enough because it was a very nice car seat. Saved us a bundle too, Hertz was going to charge us $20 a day to rent Jett’s car seat and we were there for 2 weeks!

The concierge will also handle lost luggage, I mean luggage that the airlines very nicely lost for you on your way to Dubai. A couple of years ago the airlines (not Emirates) somehow misplaced all our luggage. The Westin’s concierge followed up for us and as they were delivered we found them already in our rooms. It took the airlines 3 days to finally deliver them all. The concierge kept us appraised of our luggage situation daily until they were all delivered, took the stress of arguing with the airlines away!

Among the best features of this hotel is the beautiful stretch of beach on the property, it’s quite a long stretch as the Westin is connected to its sister property Le Meridien, another great hotel. Guests at either resort have access to both resorts amenities including the pools, kids’ club and play area, and restaurants.

It’s a private beach and from there you can see across to Palm Island. The kids loved splashing in the very warm Gulf water and collecting the many shells scattered on the beach.

When they’re not at the beach the kids love the pools. The children’s pool is shaded by a tarp. It has a small water slide and a little cave the kids can play in. The lifeguards are very friendly and attentive. By the end of our last stay they were calling the kids by name!

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And whether you’re on the beach or at the pool the pool valets are always around. They pass around cold water and small cups of cold juices and the always welcome cold towels and misters, all free of charge. You can also order drinks, snacks, or lunch. Just ask for a menu and they’ll be happy to bring it. Food and beverages are charged to your room of course. How much more pampered can you be?

While you’re at the pool you can enjoy some adult time with out the kids by dropping them off at the kids’ club, it’s located by the beach between the 2 resorts. A schedule of kids’ activities is posted by the towel kiosk as you enter the pool area. There’re many different activities through out the day.

The Kids’ Club staff are very good. When you first sign up the manager will let you know what the activities are and will list down any special needs your child may have including food allergies. Snacks are provided and you can arrange for your child to have lunch there as well. They will also ask for a list of people who you authorize to sign your child in and out of the club.

The Kids’ Club area is very safe and secure. There’s an out door play area with play ground equipment on the beach side, but you don’t have to worry, it’s fenced in and has no beach exits. The indoor play areas is air conditioned and has books, toys, video games, and movies for your child to use. For younger children they have art activities and story time, for older kids they have sports including soccer and basketball. Did I mention most activities are free?[spacer height=”-20px”]

My grandson Dion participated in the Banana Boat ride. The activity cost about $8 and was scheduled for one afternoon a week. He had a blast!

We watched him from the comfort of the beach lounges!

But the water fun isn’t limited to kids! The water sports center rents jet skis, kayaks, speedboats, and more. Remember it is a Resort & Marina!

And of course there’s a gym and their Heavenly Spa.[spacer height=”-20px”]

The Westin Mina Seyahi Resort & Marina really does have something for everyone. It’s a great family friendly hotel at a great location. It’s fun and comfortable resort at a great location, with excellent service, and great restaurants. That’s why it’s our favorite reasonably priced resort in Dubai!

Well the new year is officially here. At our house that means a year of events to look forward to. But before I can start planning our next event I had to clean up and organize after a very busy holiday season.

My kitchen was a mess! Specially this year when our refrigerator decided to go on the blitz on Christmas Eve. We found ourselves shopping for a new fridge the day after Christmas, when did they get so expensive?

We found one at the Home Depot who delivered it to our home the day after New Year. This gave me enough time to clean and organize my kitchen with time to spare. I figured our new state of the art 30 cu. ft. LG fridge equipped with all the bells and whistles called for new and fresh kitchen accessories to go with the Nesspresso machine, pasta machine, silverware, and other kitchen gadgets I got for Christmas. So what could I make?

I had made several sets of these colorful trivets or hot pads to give friends for Christmas, but I didn’t make any for myself. Now that I had a bit of spare time I decided I should make a set or two for myself. I love this design, the ring makes for easy storage. You can hang them on a hook, a cabinet or drawer pull, or even on the faucet if you choose to use them as dish cloths. Best of all they’re super easy to make, each one took me less than an hour! The shower curtain ring covered in yarn keeps these trivets neat and handy. Make some for yourself or to give as gifts. They make great hostess and house warming gifts!

I’m giving you directions for 2 versions of the same pad, one is done using HDC (pictured above) the other is a front post HDC (pictured below). Either one is cute and easy.

Materials:

#4 yarn in cotton or material you prefer in the color or colors you prefer
Hook Size J 6.00mm
Plastic shower curtain ring – you can pick up a set at Walmart for under $2. You can get any color, but I prefer the clear ones. This set just needs one ring, you can save the others for other projects.

Row 2: HDC in next 6 sts (until you reach the middle of the 3 HDC point in row 1, this is your increase point), HDC in each st to end of row 1, Ch 2, turn (15 HDC)

Row 3 – 20: Repeat row 2 increasing 2 HDC for each row when you make 3 HDC at the increase point which is the middle of the 3 HDC in the previous row.

If you want a smaller pad you don’t have to make 20 rows, just make less rows. For longer pad continue pattern until you reach your desired length. You can also change yarn at the end of any row if you want a striped design.

At the end of your last row DO NOT fasten off and continue on to the edging.

Edging:

SC around the entire work including the ring at the top. Work 3 SC at the increase point of the last row and in each corner. Fasten off and weave ends in.

Ring:

Shower Curtain Ring

Tie yarn at one end of the shower curtain ring. Tie it on the ring itself, not the part where it latches. Leave that yarn free for easier opening and closing of the ring.

SC around the entire ring to the other end. Work SC in the ring like you are working a magic ring. Push stitches together as you work to make them tighter. The idea is to leave no gaps so you can’t see the ring.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

This version uses the same pattern just a different stitch. To get the ridge you will work the entire pad using a front post HDC.

FPHDC Version:

If you’re not familiar with front post stitches here’s a video tutorial from LeisureArts.com

To make this version follow the pattern above, but instead of HDC make the stitches FPHDC (front post half double crochet). End each row with and HDC.